The funny thing is he can't math very well. That comes out to less than an hour a day for 3.5years. 😅

Most Olympic level athletes and high level coaches do incorporate visualization training as part of the regimen.

And, in Japanese training, there is the concept of Mitori Geiko.

As Mr. Moneyberg has not registered a profile here, I have no interest in commenting on his rank.

If Mr. Moneyberg never existed, that would not change the fact, that thoughtful practice, conceptual thinking, and visualization can indeed play a productive role in grapple fu training, and many other types of training.

In fact, in the origin mythology of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, the story goes that as a teen ager, Helio watched practices that his brothers taught for months or years, implying not active participation prior to that point, until one day, he had to substitute teach a private lesson when one of his older brothers was not available, and that his guard work was seen as innovative by the student.

Now, I am not saying that we should ever take mythologies, or fairy tales, or religious stories literally, but that does not mean that they have nothing to teach.

Nor am I saying that watching practice, or thinking practice, without physical practice, is something that I am advocating in a non-nuanced way.

But, don't throw out babies with bath water.

Thoughtful practice, conceptual thinking, and visualization can indeed play a productive role in grapple fu training, and many other types of training (see, I also like repetitions in training, if you notice the reference).

I agree. I think we should add all of your suggestions., so we can correctly log time.

.5 hours at the Mystic
One hour visualizing winning the kumite
2.3 hours incorporating Earth magic into my guard game

In all seriousness, I totally agree with what you’re saying. And I totally disagree with what he’s saying.

I remember when I was a white belt I spent a bunch of time daydreaming about BJJ and cooking up ways to transition from my favorite positions into some subs. I went in to the gym and asked a purple belt who had taken me under his wing about them, and he told me I was dreaming. In fact I was, but still felt he must have misunderstood me, since these techniques were totally legit and going to revolutionize my game! I asked if we could drill them out, and he agreed. Once I had shown him what I was trying to do, one of the two he told me to discard entirely, and the other he said had some potential if the opponent was asleep at the switch, but couldn't be relied upon to work against someone who was focused on defending.

So there you have it. 2-3 hours of visualization effort proven to amount to jack squat with five minutes of mat time. But then again, I was just an overeager white belt at the time and now I know that transitions come from a deep familiarity with the techniques on both ends, not daydreaming about how cool it would be if you could connect x to y. I'm sure Mr. Moneyberg in his purple and brown wisdom found ways to get beyond that limitation.

If you're not thinking about the rolls, especially where you got your ass handed to you, on the drive home or in the shower, you're doing it wrong.

That depends, and changes as time goes on.

After a few decades, one learns (with difficulty at first), as a new student, or after being a new black belt for a decade or two, to pretty much not think about Jiu-Jitsu rolls or Jiu-Jitsu dramas, when one is not on the mats, or not at the gym, and not posting here, on on grapple fu forums, etc.

Winning or losing in Jiu-Jitsu rolls is the most trivial thing in the world, compared to real world problems.

In fact, an over-fascination, or over mental mastication about mat time, when one is off of the mats, is certainly a sign of an insecure headology using a coping mechanism to not think about or deal with real world matters,

that may be useful, depending on the severity of one's mental dissatisfaction with one's real life, off the mats, or could be entirely unhealthy, and just another way to not deal with one's real life, real world, off mat obligations and challenges.

Of course, it is natural to have a brief after action review in one's mind, after any encounter or situation, where there may be room for process improvement.

And, sometimes we have intuitive eureka moments in all domains, after our subconscious processes events and ideas.

But, out of all the things one can or should worry about in life, improving one's Jiu-Jitsu rolls, should be near the bottom of the priority list.

As it is no where near as usual as being a plumber, or a mechanic, or a healthcare provider, or being a better parent, or better son or daughter, etc.

Jiu-Jitsu is fine, and can be useful, but should improve our life, not consume nor define one's life.

Otherwise, we become no more useful than knuckle dragging primates, with myopic primate brains to match.

Every boy and girl, and every adult, should learn how to defend themselves, but also first aid, math, science, basic survival, how to change a tire, how to drive, how to dance, how to ride a horse, basic gun safety, basic electrical outlet safety, basic home economics, basic tools use, etc. as well as basic reading literacy and basic societal technology literacy.

If all we know is how to grapple, and that is all we can talk about, or think about, then we are very dull indeed, and are not very well trained to help ourselves, or be helpers to the communities, in emergencies, disasters, or during times of economic hardships.

Most people have a life potential beyond simply being a paid athlete, or paid combat sport technique demonstrator, and so for most students we train them on the mats to be able to defend themselves, and to learn lessons and habits on the mats, that may help them generalize those lessons to be successes off of the mats, in other, more generally useful and productive domains.

Being a success on the mats, for most, will be a side benefit at most.

And, we certainly don't want to lose a medical student going to medical school, just to get another knuckle-chuckle head whose main usefulness is pulling guard and hitting a heel hook, which in everyday life has no practical value whatsoever, except the potentiality for harm if done for inappropriate reasons in wrong contexts.

You're way overthinking this. I just wanted to say, you want to get better at jiu jitsu, think about it. Yeah I know there's more to life lol.

The remarks were a counter view to your comment, and not directed at you personally.

There is not an over thinking.

Although...I admit that I have had a long time to think about it, over the past decades on the mats, and observing a lot of people's journey from start, to black belt, to old age, and in some cases, death and infirmity.

The lesson I was repeating, which I borrowed from Dan Gable, is one of the most useful things we have to teach, other than falling skills, and situational awareness:

"We teach our students to be a success on the mats, so they are successes off the mats".

And likewise, Jiu-Jitsu enthusiasts often fall trap to the same social compulsions of vegans, cross fitters, and religious fanatics, where they cannot refrain from talking about Jiu-Jitsu, including in social situations, where that might not be appropriate.

Here, in this forum, it is appropriate, but think how many people in the Jiu-Jitsu community that we know, that cannot go an hour in a social situation without compulsively bringing up Jiu-Jitsu.

And, likewise, the Jiu-Jitsu community is often very vulnerable to cult dynamics.

So, in my view, as a senior black belt, I do more good than harm, by deliberately expressing the contrary position, and reminding people to avoid becoming so enthusiastic about Jiu-Jitsu that their enthusiasm for Jiu-Jitsu ends up consuming their life, rather than enhancing their life, or makes them as dull in social situations as the fanatics of the vegan community, cross fit community, and the various mind over matter communities, and social justice movement communities that end up broken records about their personal obsessions.